The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-04-19

Travellers Union complain that any
common carrier has V iolated the law
On the contrary they both aver that the
railroad companies do not now violate
the law. and do not wish To do So. The
conductors say that they fear they will
not receive passes az heretofore and
tha traders and travellers say that they
fear commercial travellers will not be
allowed free transportion. for $50 pounds
OF extra baggage as was allowed last
year. They present no complaint of any
thing done or omitted in contravention
of the provisions Of the law. III the rail
roa,i companies should issue
pass To conductor and his
family to after Il an approaching
convention or should transport 100
pounds of baggage free for commercial
travellers under the registry and indem-
nifty system, and some person feeling
agrieved should make "A complaint of
unjust discrimination. il would then be
proper for the Commission To enter
tain the question of whether such
conduct was or was not in ViO-
lation of the law. and if SO,
whether it was or was not
within the exceptions stated within Sec
tlon %. Complaints may also be- pr
sented. if the charges made by the car
riers are not considered reasonable and
come before us in a way clearly
indicated by the statute, it would
be worse than useless for us to
express opinions or give advice. We
should not only lay ourselves Justly open
To a charge of assuming unwarranted
authority but should also run great
risk of involving all concerned in what
the courts might afterwards hold to be
breaches of the law by hasty and
iii snnSII.rt1 ..nRalnlinnG haSaI
upon er pdrte statements and arguments.
Although it might be desirable, or at
least convenient, IN respect to any piece
of new legislation. to have "A tribunal es-
tablished To which inquirers might
apply for instructions and advice respect
ing the meaning of the law and
its application to suggested circum-
stances and conditions, "A moments re-
Elections will show that no such tribunals
could be properly erected. Congress has
not taken the management of the rail
roads out of the hands of the railroad
companies. 1t has simply established
certain principles under which inter
State commerce must be conducted.
SHARP TALK To THE CAUTIOUS.
"One more suggestion may properly
be- added. 1t appears from numerous
petitions that have been laid before us
for prelImary advice, many of them
obviously of suggestive, if not by pro-
cIrement of the carriers themselves. that
common comment on the law by carriers
and those who have heretofore enioyed
special favors at their hands. describ..
the system of penalties which the law
provides as extreme and risks imposed
upon unintentional violation of its pro-
visions as enormous. Such comments
appear To Us as neither fair nor Just.
1t has been enacted i'm Section that
all charges for Interstate transportation
shall be reasonable AMI Just Congress
has prohibited in Section 4, all manner
of un ust DETERMINATIONS: has forbidden
in Section 3 all undue and unreasonable
preferences. and advantages; has required
i'll the same section reasonable aud equal
facilities for interchange of traffic, and
has prohibited in Section the pooling
of freight. That, in substance. is the
Interstate Commerce law. There is
nothing novel in these provisions. They
simply bring back the business of com
mon carriers to well settled principles
of common law. Yet no one can deny
that there was urgent need of their
statuary formation. The alleged diff
culties in putting them in operation only
disclose examples of the extent to which
they have been violated in the past.
These sections of the act are expressed
Ill DItlfi "oTtS. 1nubl
given them in the first instance by the
carriers and their patrons. When "a
course of conduct has been adopted of
which the complaint is made that il
violates the law the decision of the ques-
ton will rest with the courts or with
the Commission, as the complaining
party may elect. This is the orderly
method in which all legislation is adj
ministered, and the statute in question
presents no exception.
THE MATTER OF PENALTIES.
1T is true that Section provides that
for violation of law and for failure to do
an ac. which the law requires, that the
offending common carrier shall be liable
to the INJURED party for damages sus-
tanned, together with a reasonable attor-
neys fee, to be fixed by the court and
collected with the costs i'm the case.
IL is also true that Section 10
imposes fine of not to exceed $5 900
upon the common carriers and their
officers, agents and servants who will
fully do or cause to be done, or willingly
permit to be done any prohibited act,
etc, upon conviction in the Dis
trict Court of the United States.
To the civil remedy described
in section y adds an attorneys fee to the
existing Common Law rights of any in
Jured party To receive the full amount
of his damages, a condition of affairs
which cannot greatly alarm corpora
tions disposed To fair dealing, while
the criminal remedy given in section
10 obviously pertains to intentional
violations of the law and in these cases
to be graduated by court according To
the enormity of the offense. The good
faith exhibited in an honest effort to
carry ont the requirements of law will
involve reasonable and fair-minded
officials in no danger of damages
on fines. The elasticity of the statue i'm
their favor is noticeable. The
must be in like and contemporaneous
service in the transportation of like kinds
of traffic under Substantially similar cir
cumstances and conditions. The pref
erence or advantage" of Section
: must he undue or unreasonable
Throughout the act as it now stands
in a confessediy experimental form
there is exhibited an obvious and
generous purpose to allow 10 corpora
uons ample scope i'm the conduct of their
business and fair consideration of every
reasonable claim, while insisting upon
just, impartial, open and consistent
rates of charge, Ia which every citi-
Zen shall be subject alike whose
situation Is the same. Surely the people
could not ask for less. The Language
and tenor of the act wholly fail to Justify
any railroad managers, if any such there
be. to refuse to accept responsibilities, de-
cline to offer rates, neglect to announce
conditions Of traffic, embarass inter-
change of business and stagnate trade
while they stick in the bark" of phrases
and expressions of law, inventing doubts
and imagining dangers. Ii Is still more
unjustifiable for railroad companies to
make use of general clauses Of the law,
ignoring its modifying and enlarging
words and formulas in order to impose